Junior Brendan McNamee gave the St. Lawrence men's soccer team an early lead and first-year Sam Sapnar scored his first collegiate goal, but three consecutive goals by Babson gave the Beavers a 3-2 win over the Saints in the season opener on Friday afternoon.

"The team played very well and got off to a great start. Both of our goals were well taken and unfortunately some slips happened on our part and we allowed three goals that could have easily been saved," head coach Mike Toshack said after the game.

Jethro Dede and Luis Jimenez set up McNamee for the Saints' first goal of the game in the 15th minute, which McNamee finished with a shot inside the left post from the middle of the box.

But Babson answered with the equalizer less than two minutes later with a diving header from Alex Crompton in the 17th minute. Crompton also scored the Beavers second goal in the 26th minute to give the home team a 2-1 lead heading into half time.

After the break, in the 49th minute, Youcef Ziad extended Babson's lead to 3-1 with the eventual game winner.

The Saints battled hard in the second half to close the gap, with Sapnar cutting the deficit to one goal with the first of his career for the Scarlet and Brown. Sophomore Aidan Callahan assisted on the play.

St. Lawrence outshot Babson 8-2 in the final 45 minutes and 13-5 overall. St. Lawrence goalkeeper Mike Smith finished with one save in the loss, while James Takami made three saves for the Beavers. Both teams finished with two corner kicks.

"The team's fight was incredible and we definitely had them on the ropes," Toshack continued. "They guys were very disappointed with the outcome today but are looking forward to getting back at it tomorrow. Our staff is very encouraged with what we've seen and look forward to the team's future."

The Saints will travel to Wheaton College for a 3 p.m. kickoff time on Saturday afternoon.